Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/426

 race as the Turks of A.D. 500, and that during the migrations an alphabet of Syriac origin was introduced into Mongolia which is the basis of the present Mongolian writing. For the story of the rise of Jenghis Khan and his devastations in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and for the wars and raids of the terrible Timur (Tamerlane), the reader must be referred elsewhere.

The main outlines of Mongolian history will be found admirably summarised in a small book entitled History of the Mongols, by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, of which, however, only 25 copies were printed, and these by special permission of the British Museum. The following facts are taken from this work:—

"The history of the Mongols practically begins with the great conqueror Jenghis Khan. His father, who probably first asserted his independence from Chinese rule, was at that time only holding sway over some 40,000 tents, yet within twenty years Jenghis Khan had built the widest empire the world has ever known. The territory he and his sons conquered stretched from the Yellow Sea to the Crimea, and included lands or tribes wrung from the rule of Chinese Tanguts, Afghans, Persians, and Turks.

"Upon the death of Jenghis Khan in a.d. 1227, at the age of sixty-four, his empire was divided among his five sons as follows:—

"(1) The line of Ogotai, ruling the tribes of Zungaria. It was he who invaded Europe.

"(2) The line of Tulai, which ruled over the clans of Mongolia. His son was Kublai Khan, who conquered China and founded the Yüan dynasty.

"(3) The line of Tulai and Persian branch; the Ilkhans of Persia.

"(4) The line of Jugi, ruling the Turkish tribes.

"(5) The line Jagatai, ruling Trans-Oxiana.

"After the death of Osfotai, whose death resulted in the Tartars retiring from Europe, a general struggle ensued, and Kublai Khan maintained his supremacy. His capital was removed from Karakorum to Peking.